Connect to Effect

Ever hear the phrase "we just have a connection?" I hear it all the time... And I suppose it seems to be true sometimes, you know those times when you meet someone you feel you've known forever.  But really is that a frequent happening? Not in my life anyway... In my little world connection is something that takes effort, you have to work at it, build it.

Jesus was all about "connection" and that's what the Pharisees didn't understand, they couldn't... The whole religion of the Pharisees was based on superiority... They were too good to connect. When Jesus connected with children and held them in his lap, he connected with the woman who broke her bottle of perfume to wash his feet.. He connected with the adulteress caught in the act when he knelt beside her. Even Jesus' disciples told the children to leave him alone or told Jesus not to bother with them but Jesus wouldn't allow even his closest companions to jeopardize the connections he was building, he rebuked his friends.

So let me ask you this... Are you building connection with anyone?  Are you being purposeful in connection with others? Would you rebuke your friends in order to connect with someone to effect them for Christ?

I think Jesus had hold of something we may have forgotten over the years... You can only effect if you connect.  These days we are conditioned to want spotlight for nothing. You know where I'm going there, reality shows... Spotlight for nothing. But the kingdom of God is so far from being about our spotlight.  It's about us shining the spotlight on the passion of the cross, making sure people know about Jesus' love for us driving him to the horror of the cross. 

Sometimes we get so caught up in the big things we forget that everything big starts out small... We need to plant a seed to reap a harvest.  Everything is so easy for us, so quick that we've forgotten some things take time. We must remind ourselves of the purpose of our existence, we must spend time on others, we must connect to effect.